The Quality of Operative Performance Narrative Feedback: A Retrospective Data Comparison Between End of Rotation Evaluations and Workplace-based Assessments.

Objective: To describe the quality of operative performance feedback using evaluation tools commonly used by general surgery residency training programs.

Summary Of Background Data: The majority of surgical training programs administer an evaluation through which faculty members may rate and comment on trainee operative performance at the end of the rotation (EOR). Many programs have also implemented the system for improving and measuring procedural learning (SIMPL), a workplace-based assessment tool with which faculty can rate and comment on a trainee's operative performance immediately after a case.

An Appreciative Inquiry Approach to the Core Competencies: Taking it From Theory to Practice.

Objective: To operationalize the surgical core competencies by using a qualitative inquiry strategy to explore how surgical competence is behaviorally demonstrated by faculty.

Design: Categorical general and vascular surgery residents completed a survey soliciting opinions regarding which faculty were deemed most representative of each core competency. The surveys served as a theoretical sample, as surgeons selected were then interviewed, and interviews transcribed.

On the Origins of Perceptions: Student Perceptions of Active Learning and Their Implications for Educational Reform.

This Conversation Starters article presents a selected research abstract from the 2016 Association of American Medical Colleges Central Region Group on Educational Affairs annual spring meeting. The abstract is paired with the integrative commentary of three experts who shared their thoughts stimulated by the study. These thoughts highlight the value of exploring what drives student perceptions of active learning in order to reform medical education.